Local man gets 12 years prison for sex offenses

A Zanesville man originally indicted for the forcible rape of a child was sentenced to 12 years in prison on lesser charges.

Muskingum County Common Pleas Court records show Robert James Gates, 32, was sentenced to six years on each of two counts of endangering children with a serious physical harm specification, second-degree felonies, charges amended from rape and forcible rape.

Judge Kelly Cottrill also ordered concurrent terms of six years for pandering obscenity involving a minor, a second-degree felony, and 30 months each on two counts gross sexual imposition, third-degree felonies.

Another pandering charge was dismissed.

Prosecutor Michael Haddox said Gates had faced a mandatory life sentence on the forcible rape charge.

Gates was also classified as a Tier II sexual offender, which requires reporting address information to the sheriff's office in the offender's county of residence every six months for 25 years after release from prison.

Records indicate the offenses were committed between 2003 and 2011.

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Local man gets 12 years prison for sex offenses

A Zanesville man originally indicted for the forcible rape of a child was sentenced to 12 years in prison on lesser charges.